Calgary man accused of organizing Thai boy sex ring

Linda Nguyen, Canwest News Service12.17.2008

Undated resume photo of John C. Wrenshall, formerly of Calgary. Wrenshall, 62, now living in Thailand was arrrested December 15, 2008 at London's Heathrow Airport on his way to Canada and faces 18 counts related to pedophilia and pornography.

A Canadian man accused of being the "lead organizer" of a sex tourism business connecting foreign pedophiles to boys as young as four from his home in Thailand had been the target of an international investigation for several months, a U.S. assistant district attorney said Tuesday.

John Wrenshall, 62, a former Calgary scout leader who was convicted in 1997 of sexually assaulting a series of choir boys, was arrested Monday at London's Heathrow Airport on his way home to Canada.

It is alleged that Wrenshall arranged trips by U.S. sex tourists and others to his home in Thailand where they would pay to engage in sex with boys, sometimes for weeks at a time.

U.S. prosecutor Lee Vartan told Canwest News Service it is alleged customers were allowed to videotape and photograph the abuse.

Vartan said authorities believe the abuses have been occurring since at least May 2000, and that some of the victims had been living inside Wrenshall's home near Bangkok for years.

"This is one of the most egregious cases I've seen during my time here and one of the most unfortunate," Vartan said, adding authorities believe "it involves multiple victims, all young boys being abused each and every day . . . and it was happening for money."

Authorities believe they have arrested the "lead organizer of this sex tourism business," Vartan added.

Wrenshall was arrested on a warrant stemming from an indictment handed down last August by a grand jury in New Jersey. It was the culmination of a joint investigation by American, Thai and Canadian authorities that had been going on for several months, Vartan said.

Wrenshall faces 18 counts related to pedophilia and pornography including one count of conspiracy to engage in sex tourism, two counts of aiding and abetting sex tourism, one count of conspiracy to produce child pornography, seven counts of production of child pornography and seven counts of distribution of child pornography.

"We were keeping our eyes on him in Thailand and had put in a request with Thai authorities to extradite him," Vartan said from New Jersey. "We had been working on that for several months, monitoring his movements."

Wrenshall will be held in London pending an extradition to the United States to face the charges.

Vartan said this process typically can take "several months" as authorities anticipate he will object to the order.

Although more charges are not expected to be laid in the U.S., it is expected that investigators from a number of countries will be making attempts to identify alleged clients.

If that can be done, there may be more charges pending in numerous international courts.

Vartan said Thai authorities will also continue their investigation into identifying the victims involved in Wrenshall's case.

If convicted, Wrenshall faces up to 15 years in prison for each count of sex tourism, a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of 20 years in prison for each count of producing child pornography, and up to 15 years in prison for distributing child pornography. He also faces a fine of up to $250,000 per count.

RCMP spokeswoman Sgt. Sylvie Tremblay said Tuesday in Ottawa that they were involved in the international investigation into Wrenshall but could not elaborate to the extent of their role.

Wrenshall was sentenced to a year in jail in 1997 for indecently assaulting eight choir boys at the Cathedral Church of the Redeemer in Calgary over more than three decades.

The former scout master, then 51, was able to lure the boys to his home under the pretence that he was running a study on preteen boys' sexuality. During his trial, Wrenshall admitted that he also had molested at least a dozen other boys aged nine to 12. He was never charged in the latter incidents.

He was also convicted in Canada of a similar offence in 1970, the records say.

Terry Fullerton, choir director at Church of the Redeemer from 1973 to 1995, said he hadn't heard from Wrenshall since asking him to leave the church in the '80s because of allegations of sexual improprieties.

"I'm very disappointed that whatever treatment he had doesn't seem to do any good," said Fullerton.

Vartan said the accused is connected to three convicted pedophiles in the United States.

The link was discovered in August 2008 after authorities seized computer equipment in the case of Wayne Corliss, 59, of New Jersey.

Forensic investigators were able to locate numerous chat logs and photos between Wrenshall and Corliss detailing the sex business that the Canadian allegedly ran out of his Thailand home.

Corliss pleaded guilty Oct. 28 in New Jersey to sex tourism and to producing child pornography. Corliss said he travelled to Thailand every year from 2000 to 2002 for the purpose of having sex with young boys. He said he would stay at Wrenshall's home, where boys were made available to him for a price.

"This individual (Corliss) engaged in among the most depraved conduct imaginable with helpless children," said U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie following Corliss's guilty plea. "Others involved in illicit sex tourism should take notice that, just like Mr. Corliss, law enforcement around the globe has the ability to locate you, prosecute you and send you to federal prison for a very long time."

The seized chat logs also implicated Wrenshall in the cases of Burgess Lee Burgess, 44, of Mobile, Ala., and Mitchell Kent Jackson, 31, of Pensacola, Fla.

Both men admitted that they had travelled to Thailand for two years to sexually abuse children. They said that they were part of an Internet chat group dedicated to men with a sexual interest for young boys. Both Wrenshall and Corliss were part of this group. It was through these chats that Wrenshall allegedly invited the three men to his home in Thailand.

Burgess and Jackson will be sentenced in April 2009 and could face a maximum term of 30 years in prison.

Adul Pinsuvana, director of the AUA Thailand Language Center in Bangkok, said Wrenshall worked for him as a teacher and then later as a supervisor before recently resigning to return to Canada.

Pinsuvana said that when he heard of the arrest, he couldn't believe it.

"I thought at first it was a joke or something," said Pinsuvana. "When I saw the news report, I was shocked."

Wrenshall's alleged involvement in the ring is the second time in two years that a Canadian has been linked to sex crimes against minors in Thailand.

Christopher Paul Neil, a Maple Ridge, B.C., teacher, was arrested in October 2007 by Thai police after an international child pornography investigation unscrambled altered images of him engaging in sexual acts with Thai boys.

Neil, 33, who had lived in South Korea before moving to Thailand to continue teaching, was convicted in June of kidnapping and sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy, and was sentenced to 39 months in prison. In November, he was convicted on more charges against a second youth, which extended his sentence by six years.

With files from the Calgary Herald

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